Bomb rips through crowded underpass in Moscow; 7 killed, 53 injured

MOSCOW -- A bomb tore through a crowded underground walkway in central Moscow on Tuesday, killing at least seven people and sending wounded pedestrians staggering out, their clothes singed, tattered and soaked in blood.

ANDREW KRAMER

Published
12:00 am EDT, Wednesday, August 9, 2000

Suspicion for the bombing immediately fell on Chechen rebels, and there were fears of a renewed terrorist onslaught in the Russian capital.

The blast shook the crowded walkway filled with kiosks in Pushkin Square during evening rush hour. Pedestrians stumbled up the steps from the passageway to the surface, shouting and coughing, while others ran for cover.

Rescuers later dragged burned corpses out of the tunnel past charred heaps of kiosks.

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said seven people were killed and 53 injured in the blast. President Vladimir Putin ordered police on alert around the country.

"We should stop speaking about freedom of movement ... We should realize we are living in the capital of a warring country," Alexander Muzikantsky, a Moscow city official, told ORT television.

The Interior Ministry released descriptions of two suspects, both men in their late 20s with dark skin and "apparently from the Caucasus region," Russian television reports said. Chechnya is in the Caucasus.

Police said there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said city prosecutors were treating it as a terrorist attack and that Chechens could be to blame. Chechen rebels were blamed for a series of apartment bombings last fall that killed around 300 people and in part prompted the Kremlin to launch the current war in Chechnya.

Pushkin Square is one of the busiest junctures in Moscow, adjoining two major streets and three subway stations less than a half mile from the Kremlin and a few hundred meters from the Moscow mayor's office.

Luzhkov told reporters early Wednesday that the suspects apparently approached a kiosk in the passageway and tried to buy something with dollars, but the vendor wouldn't accept them. The suspects then said they would go exchange the money for rubles, and left their bag behind.

"Almost right then, the bag exploded," Luzhkov said.

People outside the walkway said the blast barely disturbed them and sounded like a minor car accident. Only as people began stumbling out was it clear what happened, said Galina Romanova, who sells ice cream in the area.

A second bomb was found and defused near the scene, the Interfax news agency said. Officials would not confirm the report.

Putin, who gained popularity partly through his tough response to last year's bombings and handling of the Chechnya war, called an emergency session of his top

law enforcement officials Tuesday.

Tuesday's blast came two days after Russian security forces had been on alert in case of possible attacks by Chechen separatists to mark the Aug. 6, 1996 anniversary of the rebels' capture of the Chechen capital of Grozny during the first Chechen war.